Are You a Professional Crafter?

Hi @ThereRoseaLamb,

Funny you should mention this -- I was listening to a YouTube channel talk about this very topic yesterday.

I used to be very into crafts, but for me, they became too expensive, took a up a lot of space for supplies, and vast amounts of my already-limited spare time. I used to work on cross stitch patterns like this, and could spend hours on it but only get an inch or two accomplished (and that was without all the detailing that had to be done later.)

This isn't my personal work but I did make up this exact pattern, years ago.



I later switched to smaller, easier things like friendship bracelets (again, these are stock photos but I have made some of these myself.)




I also enjoy working with beads from time to time:




I had thought about trying to sell crafts, but after a lot of research, it seems very difficult to break into or make any money because:

1. Competition is everywhere. A home crafter will never be able to compete with Amazon, Temu, Wish, etc. for similar items -- even if they're lower quality. The home crafter will also have to price their products several times anything mass marketed just to cover cost of supplies, let alone their skill and time.

2. Trying to sell anything you make seems to require a lot of money, not just for supplies, but also because every selling place charges fees for using their platform to sell your product. There are also lots of horror stories about places like Etsy gouging sellers with ever-increasing fees, locking down their accounts without notice, etc.

3. Selling in person at craft fairs, etc., requires paying fees for a stand and then traveling to those locations. I've also heard additional horror stories from crafters about how they'd arrive only to find wide open, muddy fields, to which they were expected to haul their own tables, chairs, and goods.

Some who required electricity didn't have access to it, even though they may have been told they would. Even if it was available, they had to pay higher fees for a location that could run an extension cord to an outlet.

4. Many crafters pay hundreds or thousands (event fees plus travel costs, hotels, meals, etc.) to participate in such events, then have to hope to make up for the cost by selling their goods, which is tough when you're selling $10 bracelets (that people can get online for $2.)

5. Taxes -- if you make over a certain amount, you will, of course, have to pay taxes and that can get tricky, especially you're selling in different states, which all have different rates and rules about sales tax.

You might want to look up more info about the pro's and con's on YouTube.

I have known many crafters, some of whom have tried to sell their goods -- but I don't know of any who made significant money from doing so (unless they just weren't sharing that info.)

For myself, I decided that all of this didn't seem worth the trouble or cost, so now I only make things I usually want to give away (sometimes I wear what I make, but rarely, because I often make things with someone or some specific charity in mind.)

Maybe I'm just too lazy and give up too easily -- I'm hoping there are others out there who aren't like me and are having great success at selling their wares!

I love small, home-run businesses from individuals rather than corporations, and I hope we hear from them in this thread!

Great topic! If you do pick up a new craft, please tell us what it is and how it goes!

Hi Miss Rose!

I have done some crafting. Here are a few tips:

-The most marketable items are consumables that make good gifts and cost less than $30 (such as homemade soaps, garlic braids, handmade cards, etc).

-Items that cost more than $30 sell best when they are beautiful, functional, and giftable. (Example, my brothers and I used to sell artisan cutting boards, they were attractive enough to function as wall art and we priced them from $25 - $65 (this was a decade ago). Customers did not mind paying extra for the fancier designs as long as we had cheaper options, in fact the fancier ones often sold out first.

-The least stressful way to sell your wares seems to be a local shop that specializes in gifts and either charges monthly rent or a percentage of everything you sell. This setup is most effective if you live in an area with a lot of tourists or day-trippers.

Like @seoulsearch was saying, craft fairs can be stressful and erratic and online sales have a pretty big learning curve with a lot of unexpected expenses. Shipping is ridiculously expensive and USPS has gotten very unreliable. Plus, if a package arrives safely but gets stolen off the porch (or the recipient claims they "never got it"), most online platforms will require the seller to re-ship the item at their own expense (sellers have very little recourse with most of the big online marketplaces, even if a buyer is clearly trying to scam you).

Is there a particular craft or hobby that you feel drawn to learn, like macrame or pottery? Or something you already love to do, like press flowers? If so then maybe you could work your hobby into something marketable, like handmade cards decorated with pressed flowers. 💐

Good luck with it! I think the trick is to start small without a lot of expenses, see what sells and modify as you learn. And try to offer enough artistic variety that you don't get bored with it.

Happy crafting! 😊

In 2nd grade I made a smiley face out of macaroni.

I'm not sure if it was "professional"...
but my mother said it was brilliant.

.

I would like to suggest an alternative to a craft fair. Flea markets have a much more reliable customer base, much more regular business times and usually much lower prices for a booth. And there will be a lot of variety of goods, so you will get all kinds of people coming through.

This was such a good suggestion that I did a bit of reading about it last night.

From the discussions I read, flea markets seem to have most of the pros and cons of craft fairs, but as mentioned -- the barrier to entry is usually lower.

However, people mentioned that along with a lower seller's fee, sellers also had to expect that the customer base is usually only interested in rock-bottom prices, and even then, often try to haggle the price down.

One seller mentioned something she was selling for $2 and thought it would sell out since it was so cheap, but another vendor was selling something similar for $1, so she hardly sold anything unless she cut the price below her cost.


Your friend sounds like an awesome contact to start with, especially when it comes to knowing about tax laws when selling in different states. I realize I might sound paranoid but this would be my biggest concern, along with actually turning a profit.

I'm excited to hear about what you decide to take up, even if it winds up being just for fun!

Please keep us posted on how it goes.

You could also take it to a local auction house.

The auction house where I hang out on Saturday night, because there's not much else to do on a Saturday night in a small town, spends about the first hour doing what they call one shots. That is random stuff from random people. Just talk to the auctioneer before the show starts. If he doesn't have room for your stuff tonight, he will get to it next week.

I even sold a few things myself one night. I had a backlog of Christmas presents that are made for stereotypical guys, and they were given to me because I am a guy, but I never used them because I am a nerd. The auctioneer got a fair chunk of change for them, more than I would have gotten on my own.

I have seen all kinds of stuff, from a shower chair for elderly people to freshly baked cakes and pies to homemade tamales to a random pair of shoes that somebody with size 10 feet might want to buy. And I bought some homemade tamales and a cherry cream cheese pie, and all were delicious.

My husband is a carpenter and owns his own business.

I tried selling earrings and flopped. 🤣 still enjoy it and get compliments on them, but the market is too saturated for it.

I do digital work and teaching for my job. Then marketing for my husband's.

In my opinion it's only worth it if you are the best of the best (years of practice), people want it, and it's expensive enough to make money. 90% of the time that's not the case. My husband took 7 years to really see a decent profit (meaning more than minimum wage). But he's working 60 to 80 hours a week! I mean he picks the times and it's at home but still. There is no such thing as passive with it. That is a lie.

When you do high end and expensive of course you sell less. But you don't need to sell as much. However if you go to a craft show they're looking for something cheap typically. People in America especially prefer Chinese garbage. That's just the truth. However then they get mad when it looks like garbage compared to handmade. 😆

For international sales right now China can ship to us for nothing, but for us to ship out is ridiculously expensive. So this puts them at an advantage for businesses. I think that's changing though.

If you make more than $600 you have to claim taxes. The vendors can be very expensive ($100 to $500), you sit all day, and you're not guaranteed to make any money. The material itself can add up. My mother in law sells different sewing items. Fabric is very expensive and wood. Obviously jewelry can be. If you sell online the website like etsy takes a portion. In taxes they also take 20%.

For me personally it's not with it for money bc I can make way more with my job or freelancing some part of it. My husband loves it and wanted to leave his medical job where he was never home. He did woodworking since literally a kid and is really good at technology/machines. So he's very talented in it and it's paid off for him.

https://wheretheshowsare.com/

this link may help. I suggest going to some shows that show they have a lot of traffic and just talk to the vendors for advice.
People that seem to do well are selling just about anything edible.

Baked goods should do well at just about any show or even flea market

This had me reading about what someone has to do in order to meet the qualifications to sell baked goods.

I'm sure some organizations ignore the rules and still hold bake sales, but I wonder if they've run into problems with litigation?

For instance, sites were saying that in some places, you have to obtain a special license/permit, your kitchen might need to be inspected regularly (all of which I'm sure includes hefty fees,) and that it's a good idea to get insurance to protect yourself (because what if someone wants to sue you for alleged food poisoning.)

My goodness. I understand the need to protect consumers -- I would have never bought that viral Pink Sauce bc it didn't seem like the creator cared very much about sanitation or food safety -- but no wonder most small businesses can't make it.

It seems like all the odds are stacked against them.

Yes, I had checked into it years ago. It's terribly regulated. But that's true of all small businesses. Any venture would have to wait and see what this gov't does. It's just a looking deal right now. Everything is entirely too expensive to even consider a move forward. As I said, I have a friend that is a help just now. But I'm not a professional at any art. So I figure this is learning time just in case the opportunity opens up.